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Flexible wearable chemical sensors are emerging tools which target diagnosis and monitoring of medical conditions. One of the potential applications of wearable chemical sensors is therapeutic drug monitoring for drugs that have a narrow therapeutic range such as lithium. We have investigated the possibility of developing a fibre-based device for non-invasive lithium drug monitoring in interstitial fluid. A flexible cotton-based lithium sensor was coupled with a carbon fibre-based reference electrode to obtain a potentiometric device. In vitro reverse iontophoresis experiments were performed to extract Li + from under porcine skin by applying a current density of 0.4 mA cm -2 via two electrodes. Carbon fibre-based reverse iontophoresis electrodes were fabricated and used instead of a conventional silver wire-based version and comparable results were obtained. The fibre-based Li + sensor and reference electrodes were capable of determining the Li + concentration in samples collected via reverse iontophoresis and the results compared well to those obtained by ion chromatography. Additionally, biocompatibility of the materials used have been tested. Promising results were obtained which confirm the possibility of monitoring lithium in interstitial fluid using a wearable sensor., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The construction and characterization of a one-compartment fructose/air biological fuel cell (BFC) based on direct electron transfer is reported. The BFC employs bilirubin oxidase and d-fructose dehydrogenase adsorbed on a cellulose-multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) matrix, reconstituted with an ionic liquid, as the biocathode and the bioanode for oxygen reduction and fructose oxidation reactions, respectively. The performance of the bioelectrode was investigated by chronoamperometric and cyclic voltammetric techniques in a standard three-electrode cell, and the polarization and long-term stability of the BFC was tested by potentiostatic discharge. An open circuit voltage of 663 mV and a maximum power density of 126 microWcm(-2) were obtained in buffer at pH 5.0. Using this regenerated cellulose-MWCNT matrix as the immobilization platform, this BFC has shown a relatively high performance and long-term stability compared with previous studies.

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) has been developed for removal of sulfur-based pollutants and can be used for simultaneous wastewater treatment and electricity generation. This fuel cell uses an activated carbon cloth+carbon fibre veil composite anode, air-breathing dual cathodes and the sulfate-reducing species Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. 1.16gdm(-3) sulfite and 0.97gdm(-3) thiosulfate were removed from the wastewater at 22 degrees C, representing sulfite and thiosulfate removal conversions of 91% and 86%, respectively. The anode potential was controlled by the concentration of sulfide in the compartment. The performance of the cathode assembly was affected by the concentration of protons in the cation-exchanging ionomer with which the electrocatalyst is co-bound at the three-phase (air, catalyst and support) boundary.